


not broken, just bent

by DefineNormal



Series: all the small things [2]
Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: 1 chapter per episode, 100 word drabbles, Character Study, F/M, Gen, Season 2, as it should be i guess, but you know what?, just wait for series 3, life ruiners, phryne's mind is an interesting place, the phrack is taking over, the sex is canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefineNormal/pseuds/DefineNormal
Summary: Second verse, same as the first. One 100 word chapter for every episode, with the screencap that inspired the piece.
Relationships: Phryne Fisher & Dorothy "Dot" Williams, Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson
Series: all the small things [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747324
Comments: 56
Kudos: 89





	1. so glad to finally meet you

**Author's Note:**

> If you're still here - thanks! I love you!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murder Most Scandalous

Rosie’s stare is appraising. That she’s heard of “Miss Fisher” is a shock to Phryne’s system.

As is the sweat forming conspicuously on Jack’s brow. 

Curiosity effervesces - Jack Robinson... _ guilty _ ?

His discomfort is palpable, the urge to toy with him further irresistible. She snags up the darling portrait on the mantle and puts on a show of staring, although her attention is truly caught by the image.

Jack -  _ relaxed _ \- his arm around his wife.

Jack, with fewer worries.

Jack, without the ever-present tick in his jaw. 

She longs to meet this Jack, even as she realizes the inherent danger therein. 


	2. the heart line never lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death Comes Knocking

“I have no intention of pursuing my greatest passion. Unless it’s these sandwiches, which are a particular favorite.”

Jack delivers the words with a smart edge. 

She knows there’s nothing to this mystical nonsense, regardless of Aunt P’s feelings.

Still, there is something in Jack’s steady gaze fixed on Mrs Bulkonsky. Something unsettling.

She slips out of the hallway and up the stairs before Jack has a chance to turn.

She feels alarmingly out of sorts. Knows it’s downright arrogant to assume.

And yet her traitorous mind wonders, imagines, desires.

To pursue or be pursued. It matters little, she decides. 


	3. a collector's piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dead Man's Chest 
> 
> Thirsty Phryne is thirsty

She doesn’t stare. That would be uncouth.

She  _ appreciates _ the human form.

The bathing suit reveals acres of skin; skin that’s usually buttoned up.

Toned arms. Narrow waist. Thighs.

_ Thighs _ .

She tips her sunglasses back onto her nose and tries to focus on the dagger Hugh places into her hand. 

She jerks her head and Jack steps closer. She hopes the sunglasses disguise the direction of her gaze. It’s not on the task at hand.

He smells of salt and sand and she’d happily abandon her cone to lap at the droplets sparkling over his skin.

But she  _ doesn’t _ stare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to M for reasons.


	4. gracious in defeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deadweight

Giorgos is a masterpiece. She enjoys watching him flex and pose, enjoys even more the act of wrestling. His gentle guidance, the warmth of his smooth skin beneath her palms. She simmers; she’s more than ready.

He grips her wandering hand just short of its target and admonishes her for below the belt contact.

As if that wasn’t the entire point of these "lessons".

She is on the verge of taking matters into her own hands, so to speak, when Mr Butler calls through the door.

She’s not even sure Giorgos hears her apologies as she dresses to meet Jack.


	5. rations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murder à la Mode

Jack resists Phryne’s indulgences in almost every way, save one.

She can always reach him through his stomach. Plying him with food seems to mellow him and she enjoys the somnolent lisp a full belly draws from him.

The cottage pie, then, is a purposeful tactic.

His restraint is legendary but it will only take him so far.

Heavy stillness follows the final ring.

With infinite care she produces a linen napkin and slowly tucks it into the collar of his shirt. His throat bobs against her fingers when he swallows nervously.

“So, what else do you have in there?”


	6. sounds romantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marked for Murder

There is an odd ripple to the air, an electricity, that intrigues Phryne.

The usually unflappable Jack seems on edge and Rosie is by turns cordial and cutting, her gaze shifting between her ex-husband and Phryne herself. Skeptical. Unconvinced.

Of what, she doesn’t know. 

Quick to defend another woman’s marriage, Rosie is equally quick to give Jack a meaningful half-glare at the mention of romance.

All too soon, Rosie disinvites Jack to the memorial. Her words are delivered cordially, but Phryne hears the edge of rebuke nonetheless.

If Jack’s hard swallow is anything to go by, he hears it too.


	7. that usually doesn't bother you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood at the Wheel

She is more than halfway through her impassioned case for foul play when Phryne finally notices the pallor to his skin, his dishevelled appearance and the slack defeat in his broad shoulders.

She’s used to Jack challenging her. She’s used to his socratic method of reaching a conclusion. 

She’s not used to the way he avoids her eyes, his gaze darting back to poor Gertie. She’s not used to his surly dismissal.

She’s not used to his utter resignation when he asks about the next of kin.

She’s certainly not used to the feeling of losing something she never had.


	8. people are confusing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blood of Juana the Mad

“People are...confusing.”

“Yes they are.” The sigh Phryne releases is deep and bone-rattling. Mirroring Beatrice, she presses her forehead to the cool column and closes her eyes, aching for a moment of clarity.

The effort to appear unaffected by him is draining in its immensity and baffling in its intensity.

She’s been wrong-footed since their unexpected meeting that morning. For the first time in a long time, she’d struggled to find words, to apologize for intruding on his investigation. She is undone with the loss of their connection.

It is all too much even as it’s not nearly enough.


	9. girlhood dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Framed for Murder

“And what were your girlhood dreams, Miss Fisher?”

She considers. Her girlhood dreams didn’t include weath, fame, or storybook romance.

Perhaps the realities of Collingwood made those fancies seem wildly out of reach.

No, a young Phryne Fisher dreamed of escape. Of the courage and ability to travel the world, to sail the seas, and to conquer the skies.

She hadn’t dreamed of a safe home, a happy family, or close friends. But those things found her just the same.

She has all of it. 

“I’m living them, Inspector.”

Jack’s smile is small and easy. All of it, and more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those instances where the notes will exceed the story itself.
> 
> I wrote and rewrote this drabble. Multiple times. It never quite came together until I rewrote it again (A G A I N) the night before it was due to be posted. Rewatching this scene, for the umpty-millionth time, I had a little revelation at how similar and yet how wildly different this exchange is to all those that came before it. Jack is so comfortable and easy, and thinks nothing of revealing bits of himself to her. While Phryne's response may have seemed saucy and flippant, I do think it was heartfelt and the sentiment contained multitudes. She was living her girlhood dreams and then some. Jack (and Jane and Dot and Hugh and Bert and Cec and Mr Butler etc etc) are indulgences she never thought she'd have or want. It just gave me a lot of feelings to know how happy she was that the dreams she never let herself have were exactly the ones she's living. 
> 
> Anyway. Carry on.


	10. all the better for seeing you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death on the Vine

Phryne isn’t a woman who longs to be saved by a dashing white knight.

She is, however, intelligent enough to recognize and appreciate the calvary when it does arrive.

She chooses not to ruminate too long on the way the anxiety in her abdomen begins to unravel at the sight of Jack’s steady gaze. She cannot help the smile of pure delight that he’s come on her word alone.

For Phryne, trust is a hard-won commodity and it triggers an unfamiliar tickle in her throat to realize just how much Jack trusts her. 

And just how much _she_ trusts _him_. 


	11. the way things have to stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dead Air

Dot’s tears track over her cheeks from large, red-rimmed eyes. 

“You hate motoring with me,” Phryne says gently. She always assumed her traditional young friend would want exactly that: a traditional marriage. 

Too late, she recognizes her own culpability in Dot’s current quandary. In her rush to show Dot the world, she had shown Dot the world _ without limits _ . It should really be no surprise that she’s now chafing at the idea of being contained.

There is pride mixed with Phryne’s consternation. Why shouldn’t Dot demand more for herself?

Still, she hopes Hugh comes around. Dot deserves her every happiness.


	12. through the laundry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unnatural Habits

The laundry is humid.

The heavy air carries the scent of detergent but there’s also a rancid undercurrent of fear and exhaustion.

The girls, flush-cheeked and overheated, are obviously tired. Their limbs show signs of, if not abuse, then grievous lack of care. All the girls are red, chafed and bruised.

The heat behind Phryne’s eyes has nothing to do with the choking steam of the room and everything to do with a rage building in her heart.

These women, most no more than mere girls, deserve better.

It’s only Jack’s stoic presence at her back that keeps her silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this. I know it’s not The Scene. She was just so mad...


	13. your word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murder Under the Mistletoe

She lasts roughly a month before she packs everyone up for Christmas in July.

Her usually steady nerves are rattled. Jack appears in the middle of the night with less-than-honourable intent and then...nothing. For weeks.

So she retreats to the mountains.

By the time the case is solved and they’re back at Wardlow, her already questionable self-control is shredding. 

He teases her with wide, hungry pupils and botanical knowledge and she feels the last of her restraint snap.

She stops him on his way out, her fingers curled around his wrist, and invites him for dinner.

_ Breakfast _ is implied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to M for lending me her head-canon that makes me less ragey at this episode. Jack shows up at Wardlow to kiss Phryne on HER FACE and then it's not spoken of again in a whole christmas episode? Bollocks to that. Onward to series three.


End file.
